Management system

ABSTRACT

A server of a management system queues a schedule when an enqueue condition for queuing the schedule for transmitting counter information collected from an image forming apparatus is satisfied, and dequeues and executes the schedule when a dequeue condition for dequeuing the schedule is satisfied.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is based upon, and claims the benefit of priority from,corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-054254 filed in theJapan Patent Office on Mar. 22, 2019, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a management system for managing anelectronic apparatus.

Description of Related Art

Conventionally, as a management system for managing an electronicapparatus, there has been known a management system which collectscounter information indicating the number of sheets printed by a printerof an image forming apparatus.

SUMMARY

A management system of the present disclosure includes a server forexecuting a schedule for transmitting information collected from anelectronic device, the server subjects the schedule to a queuing when anenqueue condition for subjecting the schedule to the queuing issatisfied, and the server subjects the schedule to a dequeuing toexecute the schedule when a dequeue condition for subjecting theschedule to the dequeuing is satisfied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to a first embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1in the case of a multifunction peripheral (MFP);

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of an example of the operation of thesystem shown in FIG. 1 when the processing of schedules S1, S2, S3 andS4 is successfully executed;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation subsequent to theoperation shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 1 when an error occurs during the execution of theprocessing of the schedules S1, S2, S3 and S4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 1 when queuing a schedule in a server in a managementsystem;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 1 when dequeuing a schedule from a server in themanagement system;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a system according to a second embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 8 when a server in the management system stores anexecution error history of a schedule in error history information;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the error history informationshown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 8 when queuing a schedule in a server in the managementsystem;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 8 when dequeuing a schedule from a server in themanagement system;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 8 when a server in the management system executes aschedule after confirming the error history information;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 8, which is different from the example shown in FIG. 13,when a server in the management system executes a schedule afterconfirming the error history information;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system according to a third embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 15 when a server in the management system stores anexecution result of a schedule in execution result information;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the execution resultinformation shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 15 when queuing a schedule in a server in the managementsystem;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 15 when dequeuing a schedule from a server in themanagement system;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a system according to a fourth embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 20 when storing aggregate data of schedule executionresults in aggregate data information by a server in a managementsystem;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of the aggregate datainformation shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 20 when queuing a schedule in a server in the managementsystem;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the systemshown in FIG. 20 when dequeuing a schedule from a server in themanagement system; and

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a system according to a fifth embodimentof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

First, the configuration of a system according to a first embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes an image forming apparatus 20as an electronic apparatus. The image forming apparatus 20 is configuredby, for example, a multifunction peripheral (MFP), a printer dedicatedmachine, a copying dedicated machine, and the like. In addition to theimage forming apparatus 20, the system 10 may include at least one imageforming apparatus similar to the image forming apparatus 20. The imageforming apparatus in the system 10 is held by the owner of the imageforming apparatus itself, not by the manufacturer of the image formingapparatus itself.

The system 10 includes a management system 30 for managing the imageforming apparatus in the system 10. The management system 30 may beconfigured by a single computer or a plurality of computers. Themanagement system 30 may also be a system that operates on a cloud. Themanagement system 30 is operated by the manufacturer of the imageforming apparatus. A user can access the management system 30 via a webbrowser, obtain the status and history information of an arbitrary imageforming apparatus from the management system 30, and perform maintenanceof the arbitrary image forming apparatus via the management system 30.In addition, the management system 30 can notify a specific notificationdestination when a problem occurs in the image forming apparatus or whenthe remaining amount of consumables in the image forming apparatusbecomes equal to or smaller than a specific amount.

The system 10 includes a management system side connection mediationsystem 40 which functions as a hub for connecting the management system30 to the other system. The management system side connection mediationsystem 40 may be configured by a single computer or a plurality ofcomputers. The management system side connection mediation system 40 mayalso be a system that operates on a cloud. The management system sideconnection mediation system 40 is operated by the manufacturer of theimage forming apparatus.

The system 10 includes a seller system 51 operated by a seller such as asales company and a dealer of the image forming apparatus. The sellersystem 51 may be configured by a single computer or a plurality ofcomputers. The seller system 51 may also be a system that operates on acloud. The system 10 includes a plurality of seller systems each similarto the seller system 51, such as a seller system 52, a seller system 53,and a seller system 54. The seller system is operated for each seller.For example, the seller system can acquire counter informationindicating the number of sheets printed by the printer of the imageforming apparatus from the management system 30, generate an invoice forthe invoice amount based on the counter information, and transmit theinvoice to the owner of the image forming apparatus.

The system 10 includes a seller system side connection mediation system60 which functions as a hub for connecting the seller system to theother system. The seller system side connection mediation system 60 maybe configured by a single computer or a plurality of computers. Theseller system side connection mediation system 60 may also be a systemthat operates on a cloud.

The image forming apparatus and the management system 30 in the system10 can communicate with each other via a network such as the Internet.

The management system 30 and the management system side connectionmediation system 40 can communicate with each other via a network suchas a local area network (LAN) or the Internet or directly via a wired orwireless connection without use of a network.

The management system side connection mediation system 40 and the sellersystem side connection mediation system 60 can communicate with eachother via a network such as the Internet.

The seller system side connection mediation system 60 and the sellersystem can communicate with each other via a network such as theInternet.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus 20 in the caseof the MFP.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 20 includes an operationunit 21 that is an input device such as a button for inputting variousoperations, a display unit 22 that is a display device such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD) for displaying various information, a printer 23that is a printing device for printing an image on a recording mediumsuch as paper, and a scanner 24 that is a reading device for reading animage from a document. The image forming apparatus 20 further includes afacsimile communication unit 25 that is a facsimile device forperforming facsimile communication with an external facsimile apparatusnot shown via a communication line such as a public telephone line, anda communication unit 26 that is a communication device for communicatingwith an external device via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, ordirectly via a wired or wireless connection without use of a network.The image forming apparatus 20 further includes a storage unit 27 thatis a non-volatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory or ahard disk drive (HDD) for storing various types of information, and acontrol unit 28 that controls the entire image forming apparatus 20.

The control unit 28 includes, for example, a central processing unit(CPU), a read only memory (ROM) storing a program and various data, anda random access memory (RAM), that is a memory as a volatile storagedevice used as a work area for the CPU in the control unit 28. The CPUin the control unit 28 executes a program stored in the storage unit 27or the ROM in the control unit 28.

The control unit 28 executes a program stored in the storage unit 27 orthe ROM in the control unit 28 to transmit to the management system 30various types of information of the image forming apparatus 20 such ascounter information indicating the number of sheets printed by theprinter 23 and toner information as information relating to the tonerincluding the remaining amount of toner in the printer 23, at specifictiming. Note that the timing at which the control unit 28 transmits thevarious types of information of the image forming apparatus 20 to themanagement system 30 is a timing that is more frequent than the timingat which the schedule described later is executed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the management system 30 includes a plurality ofservers such as a server 31, a server 32, a server 33, and a server 34.Each of the servers in the management system 30 executes a schedule fortransmitting the information collected from the image forming apparatusin the system 10 to the seller system at a specific timing.

The schedule includes a plurality of schedules such as schedule S1,schedule S2, schedule S3, and schedule S4.

Each schedule is set to transmit information collected from any imageforming apparatus to any seller system at any timing. For example, theschedule S1 is a schedule for transmitting counter information of animage forming apparatus A, an image forming apparatus B, and an imageforming apparatus C to the seller system 51 at a specific timing. Theschedule S2 is a schedule for transmitting counter information of animage forming apparatus D to the seller system 52 at a specific timing.The schedule S3 is a schedule for transmitting counter information of animage forming apparatus E to the seller system 53 at a specific timing.The schedule S4 is a schedule for transmitting counter information of animage forming apparatus F and an image forming apparatus G to the sellersystem 54 at a specific timing.

Various timings may be set as the timing at which each schedule isexecuted. For example, the timing at which each schedule is executed maybe a daily timing such as 17:00 every day. The timing may also be aweekly timing such as a specific day of the week. The timing may also bea monthly timing such as a specific day of every month, for example, the20th of every month, and a specific day of a specific week of everymonth, for example, the third Wednesday of every month.

Each schedule is assigned to a predetermined server. For example, theschedule S1 is executed by the server 31, the schedule S2 is executed bythe server 32, the schedule S3 is executed by the server 33, and theschedule S4 is executed by the server 34.

The server 31 includes a queue 31 a for holding a schedule. Similarly,each server in the management system 30 includes a queue. For example,the server 32, the server 33, and the server 34 include a queue 32 a, aqueue 33 a, and a queue 34 a, respectively.

The management system 30 includes a database 35 that stores collectioninformation 35 a indicating various information collected from the imageforming apparatus and schedule information 35 b for managing a scheduleby the server in the management system 30.

Each time information such as the counter information is transmittedfrom the image forming apparatus, the management system 30 accumulatesthe information such as the counter information transmitted from theimage forming apparatus in the collection information 35 a.

The server in the management system 30 writes the state of the scheduleto be processed by the server itself in the schedule information 35 b.For example, when the schedule is being executed, the server in themanagement system 30 writes the status of the schedule being executed as“executing” in the schedule information 35 b, and when the execution ofthe schedule is completed, the server in the management system 30 writesthe state of the schedule being executed as “execution completed” in theschedule information 35 b.

The management system side connection mediation system 40 includes aqueue 40 a for holding processes to be executed by the management systemside connection mediation system 40. The management system sideconnection mediation system 40 communicates with the management system30 by a representational state transfer (REST), and communicates withthe seller system side connection mediation system 60 by a simple objectaccess protocol (SOAP). Each of an application program interface (API)for transmitting the counter information from the management system 30to the management system side connection mediation system 40, and an APIfor transmitting the counter information from the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 to the seller system side connectionmediation system 60 is configured with a specification that needs to becalled for each image forming apparatus that is the target of thecounter information. Further, as the number of the counter informationsimultaneously transmitted from the management system side connectionmediation system 40 to the seller system side connection mediationsystem 60 increases, the possibility of processing errors in the sellersystem side connection mediation system 60 or the seller systemincreases. Therefore, the processing of transmitting the counterinformation from the management system side connection mediation system40 to the seller system side connection mediation system 60 is based ona specification that limits the maximum number of parallel processes

Next, the operation of the system 10 will be described.

First, the operation of the system 10 in the case where the processingof the schedule for transmitting the counter information collected fromthe image forming apparatus in the system 10 to the seller system at aspecific timing is successfully executed will be described. Hereinafter,the case where the execution of schedules S1, S2, S3, and S4 is startedat the same time will be described as an example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of an example of the operation of thesystem 10 in the case where the processing of schedules S1, S2, S3, andS4 is successfully executed.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the servers 31, 32, 33, and 34 in themanagement system 30 execute transmission processes for the counterinformation of the image forming apparatus according to the schedulesS1, S2, S3, and S4 stored in the schedule information 35 b (1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, and 7). That is, the servers 31, 32, 33, and 34 obtain the counterinformation of the corresponding image forming apparatus from thecollection information 35 a, set the seller system as the finaldestination according to the schedules S1, S2, S3, and S4, and transmitthe acquired counter information to the management system sideconnection mediation system 40. Note that the order of the execution ofthe transmission processes in which the management system 30 transmitsthe counter information of the image forming apparatus is notparticularly determined, and the counter information is transmittedalmost in parallel.

When the management system side connection mediation system 40 receivesthe counter information of the image forming apparatus from themanagement system 30, the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 executes the transmission processes for the two pieces ofcounter information transmitted earlier among the counter informationtransmitted from the management system 30, based on the fact that themaximum number of parallel processes is two as described above (8 and9). That is, the management system side connection mediation system 40transmits the target counter information to the seller system sideconnection mediation system 60.

The management system side connection mediation system 40 temporarilystores, in the queue 40 a, the transmission processes for the counterinformation other than the two pieces of counter information transmittedearlier among the counter information transmitted from the managementsystem 30 (10).

When the seller system side connection mediation system 60 receives thecounter information of the image forming apparatus from the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40, the seller system sideconnection mediation system 60 executes the transmission process for thecounter information transmitted from the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 (11 and 12). That is, the seller systemside connection mediation system 60 transmits the target counterinformation to the seller system which is set as the final destinationof the counter information.

Note that when the seller system successfully receives the counterinformation transmitted from the seller system side connection mediationsystem 60, the seller system returns a response indicating that thecounter information has been successfully received to the server thathas executed the target transmission process among the servers in themanagement system 30. The response returned from the seller system isreceived by the destination server in the management system 30 via theseller system side connection mediation system 60 and the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40 in that order.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation subsequent to theoperation shown in FIG. 3.

In the case where transmission processes for the counter information arestored in the queue 40 a, regarding any one of the transmissionprocesses that has been executed, when the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 receives a response from the sellersystem indicating that the counter information has been successfullyreceived, as shown in FIG. 4, the management system side connectionmediation system 40 extracts the leading transmission process from thequeue 40 a among the transmission processes stored in the queue 40 a(13), and executes the leading transmission processes (14).

When the seller system side connection mediation system 60 receives thecounter information of the image forming apparatus from the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40, the seller system sideconnection mediation system 60 executes the transmission process for thecounter information transmitted from the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 (15).

Next, the operation of the system 10 in the case where an error occursduring the execution of the schedule processes for transmitting thecounter information collected from the image forming apparatus in thesystem 10 to the seller system at a specific timing will be described.Hereinafter, the case where the execution of the schedules S1, S2, S3,and S4 is started at the same time will be described as an example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system 10in the case where an error occurs during the execution of the processingof the schedules S1, S2, S3, and S4.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the servers 31, 32, 33, and 34 in themanagement system 30 execute the transmission processes for the counterinformation of the image forming apparatus according to the schedule S1,S2, S3, and S4 stored in the schedule information 35 b (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, and 7).

When the management system side connection mediation system 40 receivesthe counter information of the image forming apparatus from themanagement system 30, the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 executes the transmission processes for the two pieces ofcounter information transmitted earlier among the counter informationtransmitted from the management system 30 (8 and 9).

The management system side connection mediation system 40 temporarilystores in the queue 40 a the transmission processes for the counterinformation other than the two pieces of counter information transmittedearlier among the counter information received from the managementsystem 30 (10).

When the seller system side connection mediation system 60 receives thecounter information of the image forming apparatus from the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40, the seller system sideconnection mediation system 60 executes the transmission process for thecounter information transmitted from the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 (11 and 12).

Here, an error occurs in the seller system 51 due to various causes suchas an error due to a sudden load of processing in the seller system 51,based on the counter information of the image forming apparatus A andthe counter information of the image forming apparatus B beingsimultaneously transmitted from the seller system side connectionmediation system 60. Here, when such an error occurs, it might bepossible that the seller system 51 cannot return the response indicatingthat the counter information has been successfully received to theserver executed the target transmission process among the servers in themanagement system 30. In addition, it might be possible that the sellersystem 51 returns a response indicating that the counter informationcould not be successfully received due to the occurrence of an error tothe server executed the target transmission process among the servers inthe management system 30.

In the case where the transmission process for the counter informationis stored in the queue 40 a, regarding any one of the transmissionprocesses that has been executed, when the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 receives a response from the sellersystem indicating that the counter information could not be successfullyreceived due to the occurrence of a processing error in the sellersystem side connection mediation system 60 or the seller system, themanagement system side connection mediation system 40 extracts theleading transmission process from the queue 40 a among the transmissionprocesses stored in the queue 40 a, and executes the leadingtransmission process. Note that the timing at which the seller systemreturns the response indicating that the counter information could notbe successfully received due to the occurrence of the processing errorin the seller system side connection mediation system 60 or the sellersystem is later than the timing at which the seller system returns theresponse indicating that the counter information has been successfullyreceived. Therefore, when the response indicating that the counterinformation could not be successfully received due to the occurrence ofthe processing error in the seller system side connection mediationsystem 60 or the seller system is returned from the seller system, theexecution of the next transmission process by the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 is delayed as compared with a case wherethe response indicating that the counter information has beensuccessfully received is returned from the seller system.

When the transmission process for the counter information is stored inthe queue 40 a, regarding any transmission process that has beenexecuted, it might be possible that the management system sideconnection mediation system 40 does not receive the response indicatingthat the counter information has been successfully received or theresponse indicating that the counter information could not besuccessfully received due to the occurrence of the processing error inthe seller system side connection mediation system 60 or the sellersystem. At this time, the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 does not execute the transmission process stored in the queue40 a until the elapsed time exceeds a specific time after the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40 itself executes thetransmission process. Therefore, when the response indicating that thecounter information has been successfully received, or the responseindicating that the counter information could not be successfullyreceived due to the occurrence of the processing error in the sellersystem side connection mediation system 60 or the seller system has notreturned from the seller system, the execution of the next transmissionprocess by the management system side connection mediation system 40 isdelayed, compared with the case where the response indicating that thecounter information has been successfully received is returned from theseller system.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, occurring the error during the executionof the processing of schedule S1 provides an influence such that thedelay occurs not only in the schedule S1 but also in the schedules S2,S3, and S4. That is, in the system 10, when the error occurs during theexecution of the processing of the schedules S1, S2, S3, and S4, thereis the influence such that the delay occurs not only in the schedule inwhich the error has occurred but also in the schedules in which theerror has not occurred. In addition, when the number of image formingapparatuses to be scheduled is not a few but a large number such asseveral thousand, for example, the influence of the delay of theschedule becomes very large.

Next, the operation of the system 10 when queuing a schedule in a serverin the management system 30 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system 10when queuing a schedule in a server in the management system 30.

As shown in FIG. 6, the server in the management system 30 confirmswhether the number of schedules being executed is equal to or less thana specific number by using the schedule information 35 b, beforeexecuting the transmission process for the counter information of theimage forming apparatus, according to the target schedule stored in theschedule information 35 b (1).

When the server in the management system 30 confirms that the number ofschedules being executed is not equal to or less than the specificnumber, the server queues the target schedule (2). On the other hand,when the server in the management system 30 confirms that the number ofschedules being executed is equal to or less than the specific number,the server executes the transmission process for the counter informationof the image forming apparatus according to the target schedule.

Next, the operation of the system 10 when dequeuing a schedule from aserver in the management system 30 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system 10when dequeuing a schedule from a server in the management system 30.

When a schedule is stored in the queue of the server's own, the serverin the management system 30 confirms whether the number of schedulesbeing executed is equal to or less than a specific number, by using theschedule information 35 b, as shown in FIG. 7 (1).

When the server in the management system 30 confirms that the number ofschedules being executed is equal to or less than the specific number,the server dequeues the leading schedule stored in the queue of theserver's own (2), and executes the transmission process for the counterinformation of the image forming apparatus in accordance with theschedule (3, 4, and 5).

As explained above, the management system 30 can temporarily queue aschedule that has a large adverse effect on the transmission efficiencyof the counter information collected from the image forming apparatus,and dequeue a schedule that has a reduced adverse effect on thetransmission efficiency of the counter information collected from theimage forming apparatus, and execute the schedule. Therefore, themanagement system 30 can efficiently transmit the counter informationcollected from the image forming apparatus.

Since the condition based on the number of schedules being executed isthe enqueue condition, the management system 30 can temporarily queuethe schedule when the number of the schedules being executed is large.Therefore, the management system 30 can suppress the occurrence of thesituation that the transmission efficiency of the counter informationdeteriorates due to the large number of schedules executed in parallel.

Since the condition based on the number of schedules being executed isthe dequeue condition, the management system 30 can dequeue the scheduleand execute the schedule when the number of the schedules being executedis small. Therefore, the management system 30 can suppress theoccurrence of the situation that the transmission efficiency of thecounter information deteriorates due to the large number of schedulesexecuted in parallel.

Second Embodiment

First, the configuration of a system according to a second embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a system 110 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8, the configuration of the system 110 is the same asthat of the system 10 according to the first embodiment (refer to FIG.1) in which a management system 130 is provided instead of themanagement system 30 (refer to FIG. 1).

The configuration of the management system 130 is the same as theconfiguration in which the management system 30 includes a database 135instead of the database 35 (refer to FIG. 1).

The configuration of the database 135 is the same as the configurationin which the database 35 includes error history information 135 aindicating an execution error history of a schedule by the server in themanagement system 130.

Next, the operation of the system 110 will be described.

The operation of the system 110 is the same as the operation of thesystem 110, except for the points described below.

First, the operation of the system 110 when the execution error historyof a schedule by the server in the management system 130 is stored inthe error history information 135 a will be described.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system110 when the execution error history of a schedule by the server in themanagement system 130 is stored in the error history information 135 a.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 detects one of the following errors (i) and (ii) (1), themanagement system side connection mediation system 40 returns thedetected error to the server that executed the target transmissionprocess among the servers in the management system 130 (2):

(i) regarding the executed transmission process, an error that theseller system has returned a response indicating that the counterinformation could not be successfully received due to the occurrence ofa processing error in the seller system side connection mediation system60 or the seller system; and

(ii) regarding the executed transmission process, an error that theseller system has not returned a response indicating that the counterinformation is successfully received, or that the seller system has notreturned a response indicating that the counter information could not besuccessfully received due to the occurrence of a processing error in theseller system side connection mediation system 60 or the seller systemeven though the time elapsed since the management system side connectionmediation system 40 itself executed the transmission process exceeds aspecific time.

When the server in the management system 130 receives an error from themanagement system side connection mediation system 40, the server in themanagement system 130 stores the returned error in the error historyinformation 135 a (3).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the error history information135 a.

The error history information 135 a shown in FIG. 10 shows the memorydate and time of error, the identification information of the scheduleof the error target, the identification information of the seller systemto which the counter information is transmitted in the schedule of theerror target, the identification information of the target image formingapparatus of the counter information in the schedule of the errortarget, and the type of the error, for each error. Here, in the type ofthe error, “Timeout” indicates, regarding the executed transmissionprocess, an error that the seller system has not returned a responseindicating that the counter information is successfully received, or aresponse indicating that the counter information could not besuccessfully received due to a processing error in the seller systemside connection mediation system 60 or the seller system, even thoughthe time elapsed since the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 itself executed the transmission process exceeds the specifictime. Further, “Internal Server Error” indicates, regarding the executedtransmission process, an error that the seller system has returned theresponse indicating that the counter information could not besuccessfully received due to the occurrence of the processing error inthe seller system side connection mediation system 60 or the sellersystem.

Next, the operation of the system 110 when queuing a schedule in theserver in the management system 130 will be described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system110 when queuing a schedule in the server in the management system 130.

When the server in the management system 130 stores the error in theerror history information 135 a as shown in FIG. 9, the server confirms,based on the error history information 135 a, whether the error historysatisfies a specific condition regarding the seller system to which thecounter information is transmitted in the schedule of the error target,as shown in FIG. 11 (1). Here, the specific condition means that theoccurrence situation of an error in a specific period satisfies aspecific situation. The specific period is, for example, a period fromthe current time to a specific time before such as 30 minutes before. Inaddition, the specific situation is set by each type of error such as asituation in which “Timeout” error has occurred twice or more insuccession.

When the server in the management system 130 confirms that the errorhistory satisfies the specific condition with respect to the sellersystem to which the counter information is transmitted in the scheduleof the error target, the server queues the schedule (2), and then endsthe processing of the schedule.

Next, the operation of the system 110 when dequeuing a schedule from theserver in the management system 130 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system110 when dequeuing a schedule from the server in the management system130.

When a schedule is stored in the queue of the server's own, as shown inFIG. 12, the server in the management system 130 confirms whether theerror history satisfies the specific condition by using the errorhistory information 135 a with respect to the seller system to which thecounter information is transmitted in the schedule stored in the queueof the server's own (1). Here, the specific condition is a conditionthat no error occurs within a specific period. Note that the specificperiod is, for example, a period from the current time to a specifictime before such as 30 minutes before.

When the server in the management system 130 confirms that the errorhistory satisfies the specific condition regarding the seller system towhich the counter information is transmitted in the schedule stored inthe queue of the server's own, the server in the management system 130dequeues the schedule (2), and executes the transmission process for thecounter information of the image forming apparatus according to theschedule (3, 4, and 5).

As described above, since the condition based on the past error intransmission of the information to the transmission destination of thecounter information in the schedule is the enqueue condition, themanagement system 130 can temporarily queue the schedule when there is ahigh possibility that the transmission error of the counter informationto the transmission destination is large. Therefore, the managementsystem 130 can suppress the occurrence of the situation that thetransmission efficiency of the counter information deteriorates becausethe counter information is transmitted to the transmission destinationwhere the error occurs.

Since the condition based on the past error in transmission of theinformation to the transmission destination of the counter informationin the schedule is the dequeue condition, the management system 130 candequeue and execute the schedule when there is a high possibility thatthe transmission error of the counter information to the transmissiondestination is low. Therefore, the management system 130 can suppressthe occurrence of the situation that the transmission efficiency of thecounter information deteriorates because the counter information istransmitted to the transmission destination where the error occurs.

It should be noted that FIG. 12 shows a case where a schedule isdequeued from the server in the management system 130. However, theserver in the management system 130 may also confirm the error historyinformation 135 a before executing the schedule, instead of whendequeuing the schedule from the server itself.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system110 when the server in the management system 130 executes the scheduleafter confirming the error history information 135 a.

When executing the schedule, the server in the management system 130confirms by using the error history information 135 a whether the errorhistory satisfies a specific condition with respect to the seller systemto which the counter information is transmitted in the schedule as shownin FIG. 13 (1). Here, the specific condition is a condition that noerror occurs within a specific period. Note that the specific period is,for example, a period from the current time to a specific time beforesuch as 30 minutes before.

When the server in the management system 130 confirms that the errorhistory satisfies the specific condition regarding the seller system towhich the counter information is transmitted in the schedule to beexecuted, the server executes the transmission process for the counterinformation of the image forming apparatus in accordance with theschedule (2, 3, and 4). On the other hand, when the server in themanagement system 130 confirms that the error history does not satisfythe specific condition regarding the seller system to which the counterinformation is transmitted in the schedule to be executed, the server inthe management system 130 queues the schedule.

Further, when the server in the management system 130 executes theschedule after confirming the error history information 135 a, as shownin FIG. 14, the server may confirm that the error history satisfies thespecific condition with respect to the seller system to which thecounter information is transmitted in the schedule to be executed (1),and then execute firstly only the transmission process for the counterinformation of any one of the image forming apparatuses in the schedulein executing the schedule (2). Further, in the case where the server inthe management system 130 confirms that the transmission process for thecounter information in the schedule has been successfully executed basedon the response returned from the seller system (3), when a transmissionprocess that has not been executed in the schedule remains, the serverexecutes the transmission process for the counter information of all theremaining image forming apparatuses in the schedule in parallel (4 and5). On the other hand, when an error is detected in the transmissionprocess for the counter information in the schedule, the server in themanagement system 130 queues the schedule. Since the management system130 executes firstly only the transmission process for the counterinformation of any one of the image forming apparatuses in the schedule,even if an error occurs, the influence of the error can be minimized.

The system 110 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment instead of the operation described in the present embodimentas the operation when queuing a schedule in the server.

The system 110 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment instead of the operation described in the present embodimentas the operation when dequeuing a schedule from the server.

Third Embodiment

First, the configuration of a system according to a third embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system 210 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, the configuration of the system 210 is the same asthat of the system 110 (refer to FIG. 8) according to the secondembodiment, in which a management system 230 is provided instead of themanagement system 130 (refer to FIG. 8).

The configuration of the management system 230 is the same as theconfiguration in which the management system 130 includes a database 235instead of the database 135 (refer to FIG. 8).

The configuration of the database 235 is the same as the configurationin which the database 135 includes execution result information 235 aindicating the execution result of a schedule by the server in themanagement system 230 instead of the error history information 135 a(refer to FIG. 8).

Next, the operation of the system 210 will be described.

The operation of the system 210 is the same as the operation of thesystem 110, except for the points described below.

First, the operation of the system 210 when the execution result of aschedule by the server in the management system 230 is stored in theexecution result information 235 a will be described.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system210 when the execution result of a schedule by the server in themanagement system 230 is stored in the execution result information 235a.

As shown in FIG. 16, the management system side connection mediationsystem 40 returns the execution result of the transmission process tothe server that executed the target transmission process among theservers in the management system 230 regarding the executed transmissionprocess (1). Here, the execution result may be a response indicatingthat the counter information from the seller system has beensuccessfully received, or may be an error as shown in FIG. 9.

When the server in the management system 230 receives the executionresult from the management system side connection mediation system 40,the server stores the returned execution result in the execution resultinformation 235 a (2).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the execution resultinformation 235 a.

The execution result information 235 a shown in FIG. 17 indicates thememory date and time of the execution result, identification informationof the target schedule of the execution result, identificationinformation of the seller system to which the counter information istransmitted in the target schedule of the execution result,identification information of the image forming apparatus that is thetarget of the counter information in the target schedule of theexecution result, the type of the execution result, and the responsetime of the transmission process in the target schedule of the executionresult, for each transmission process. In the type of the executionresult, “Successful” indicates that the response indicating that thecounter information has been successfully received has been returnedfrom the seller system regarding the executed transmission process.Furthermore, the response time is the time until the server in themanagement system 230 receives the execution result from the managementsystem side connection mediation system 40 after the server in themanagement system 230 transmits the counter information of the targetimage forming apparatus to the management system side connectionmediation system 40, regarding the transmission process.

Next, the operation of the system 210 when queuing a schedule in theserver in the management system 230 will be described.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system210 when queuing a schedule in the server in the management system 230.

When the server in the management system 230 stores an execution resultin the execution result information 235 a as shown in FIG. 16, theserver confirms whether the execution result satisfies a specificcondition based on the execution result information 235 a, regarding theseller system to which the counter information is transmitted in thetarget schedule of the execution result, as shown in FIG. 18 (1). Here,the specific condition is to satisfy any of a first condition that anerror occurrence condition within a specific period satisfies a specificsituation, and a second condition that the response time when thetransmission process for the counter information is successful takes aspecific time such as thirty (30) seconds or more, within the specificperiod, as explained in the second embodiment. Here, the specific periodis, for example, a period from the current time to a specific timebefore such as thirty (30) minutes before. The second condition may be acondition that the response time when the transmission process for thecounter information is successful takes the specific time or more evenonce within the specific period. The second condition may further be acondition that the average response time within the specific period whenthe transmission process for the counter information is successful takesthe specific time or more. The second condition may further include acondition that a specific number, for example, fifty (50) or more ofimage forming apparatuses that have not successfully transmitted thecounter information in the target schedule remain.

When the server in the management system 230 confirms that the executionresult satisfies the specific condition with respect to the sellersystem to which the counter information is transmitted in the targetschedule of the execution result, the server in the management system230 queues the schedule (2), and then ends the processing of theschedule.

Next, the operation of the system 210 when dequeuing a schedule from theserver in the management system 230 will be described.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system210 when dequeuing a schedule from the server in the management system230.

When a schedule is stored in the queue of the server's own, the serverin the management system 230 confirms whether the execution resultsatisfies a specific condition based on the execution result information235 a, regarding the seller system to which the counter information istransmitted in the schedule stored in the queue of the server's own, asshown in FIG. 19 (1). Here, the specific condition is to satisfy both afirst condition that no error has occurred within a specific period anda second condition that the response time when the transmission processfor the counter information is successful does not take more than aspecific time such as 30 seconds within the specific period. Note thatthe specific period is, for example, a period from the current time to aspecific time before, such as 30 minutes before. The second conditionmay be a condition that the response time when the transmission processfor the counter information is successful does not take more than thespecific time within the specific period even once. Furthermore, thesecond condition may be a condition that the average response timewithin the specific period when the transmission process for the counterinformation is successful does not take more than the specific time.

When the server in the management system 230 confirms that the executionresult satisfies the specific condition regarding the seller system towhich the counter information is transmitted in the schedule stored inthe queue of the server's own, the server dequeues the schedule (2), andexecutes the transmission process for the counter information of theimage forming apparatus according to the schedule (3, 4, and 5).

As explained above, since the condition based on the past response timeof the transmission of the counter information to the transmissiondestination of the counter information in the schedule is the enqueuecondition, the management system 230 can temporarily queue the schedulewhen the response period is likely to be long. Therefore, the managementsystem 230 can suppress the occurrence of the situation that thetransmission efficiency of the information deteriorates because thecounter information is transmitted to a transmission destination whichrequires a long response time.

Since the condition based on the past response time of the transmissionof the counter information to the transmission destination of thecounter information in the schedule is the dequeue condition, themanagement system 230 can dequeue and execute the schedule when it islikely that the response time is short. Therefore, the management system230 can suppress the occurrence of the situation that the transmissionefficiency of the information deteriorates because the counterinformation is transmitted to the transmission destination whichrequires the long response time.

Note that FIG. 19 shows a case where a schedule is dequeued from theserver in the management system 230. However, the server in themanagement system 230 may confirm the execution result information 235 abefore executing the schedule, without being limited to the case whendequeuing the schedule from the server itself.

Further, when the server in the management system 230 confirms theexecution result information 235 a and then executes the schedule, as inthe operation shown in FIG. 14, the server may execute firstly only thetransmission process for the counter information of any one of the imageforming apparatuses in the schedule.

The system 210 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment or the second embodiment in place of the operation describedin the present embodiment as the operation when queuing a schedule inthe server.

The system 210 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment or the second embodiment in place of the operation describedin the present embodiment as the operation when dequeuing a schedulefrom the server.

Fourth Embodiment

First, the configuration of a system according to a fourth embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a system 310 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 20, the configuration of the system 310 is the same asthat of the system 210 (refer to FIG. 15) according to the thirdembodiment, in which a management system 330 is provided instead of themanagement system 230 (refer to FIG. 15).

The configuration of the management system 330 is the same as theconfiguration in which the management system 230 includes a batch server331 that executes batch processing, and a database 335 instead of thedatabase 235 (see FIG. 15).

The configuration of the database 335 is the same as the configurationin which the database 235 includes aggregate data information 335 aindicating aggregate data of an execution result.

Next, the operation of the system 310 will be described.

The operation of the system 310 is the same as the operation of thesystem 210, except for the points described below.

First, the operation of the system 310 in the case where the aggregatedata of the execution result of a schedule by the server in themanagement system 330 is stored in the aggregate data information 335 awill be described.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system310 in the case where the aggregate data of the execution result of aschedule by the server in the management system 330 is stored in theaggregate data information 335 a.

The batch server 331 acquires the execution result information 235 afrom the database 335, periodically, for example, once every hour asshown in FIG. 21.

When the batch server 331 acquires the execution result information 235a from the database 335, the batch server 331 generates aggregate databased on the execution result information 235 a (2). Here, the batchserver 331 generates the aggregate data related to an execution resultwhich includes the memory date and time in a specific aggregate period,for example, one hour after the previous aggregate period, among theexecution results shown in the execution result information 235 a.

When the batch server 331 generates the aggregate data, the batch server331 stores the generated aggregate data in the aggregate datainformation 335 a (3).

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of the aggregate datainformation 335 a.

The aggregate data information 335 a shown in FIG. 22 indicates anaggregate period of the execution result, identification information ofthe seller system to which the counter information is transmitted in thetarget schedule of the execution result, a ratio of “Internal ServerError” in the aggregate period, a ratio of “Timeout” in the aggregateperiod, and an average response time in the aggregate period.

Next, the operation of the system 310 when queuing a schedule in theserver in the management system 330 will be described.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system310 when queuing a schedule in the server in the management system 330.

The server in the management system 330 confirms whether the currenttime period is a time period suitable for executing the schedule byusing the aggregate data information 335 a, according to the targetschedule stored in the schedule information 35 b, as shown in FIG. 21,before executing the transmission process for the counter information ofthe image forming apparatus (1). Here, the time period suitable forexecuting the schedule is a time period in which the ratio of “InternalServer Error”, the ratio of “Timeout” in the aggregate period, and theaverage response time in the aggregate period is respectively equal toor less than the respective specific threshold value. For example, theserver in the management system 330 determines that the current timeperiod is the time period suitable for executing the schedule when thetime period one week ago corresponding to the current time period is thetime period suitable for executing the schedule.

When the server in the management system 330 confirms that the currenttime period is not the time period suitable for executing the schedule,the server queues the target schedule (2). On the other hand, when theserver in the management system 330 confirms that the current timeperiod is the time period suitable for executing the schedule, theserver executes the transmission process for the counter information ofthe image forming apparatus according to the target schedule.

Next, the operation of the system 310 when dequeuing a schedule from theserver in the management system 330 will be described.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the system310 when dequeuing a schedule from the server in the management system330.

When a schedule is stored in the queue of the server's own, the serverin the management system 330 confirms whether the current time period isthe time period suitable for executing the schedule by the aggregatedata information 335 a, as shown in FIG. 24 (1).

When the server in the management system 330 confirms that the currenttime period is the time period suitable for executing the schedule, theserver dequeues the leading schedule stored in the server itself (2),and executes the transmission process for the counter information of theimage forming apparatus in accordance with the schedule (3, 4, and 5).

Note that, when queuing the schedule, the server in the managementsystem 330 may confirm the time period suitable for executing theschedule by the aggregate data information 335 a, set visibility timeoutin the schedule so that the schedule is visualized in the confirmed timeperiod, and queue it. The queued schedule is not visible until thetimeout time of the visibility timeout. Therefore, when the schedule inthe queue becomes visible, the server in the management system 330 maydequeue the schedule, and execute the transmission process for thecounter information of the image forming apparatus according to theschedule. By doing so, when the schedule is stored in the queue of theserver's own, the server in the management system 330 does not need tocontinue to confirm whether the current time period is the time periodsuitable for executing the schedule.

As described above, the condition based on the aggregate data for eachtime period of the past execution result of the transmission of thecounter information to the transmission destination of the counterinformation in the schedule is the enqueue condition. Therefore, themanagement system 330 can temporarily queue the schedule during a timeperiod that is likely not suitable for executing the schedule.Accordingly, the management system 330 can suppress the occurrence ofthe situation that the transmission efficiency of the counterinformation deteriorates because a schedule is executed in a time periodthat is not suitable for executing the schedule.

The condition based on the aggregate data for each time period of thepast execution result of the transmission of the counter information tothe transmission destination of the counter information in the scheduleis the dequeue condition. Therefore, the management system 330 candequeue a schedule during a time period that is likely to be suitablefor executing the schedule, and execute the schedule. Accordingly, themanagement system 330 can suppress the occurrence of the situation thatthe transmission efficiency of the counter information deterioratesbecause a schedule is executed in a time period that is not suitable forexecuting the schedule.

The system 310 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment, the second embodiment, or the third embodiment, instead ofthe operation described in the present embodiment, as the operation whenqueuing a schedule in the server.

The system 310 may employ the operation described in the firstembodiment, the second embodiment, or the third embodiment instead ofthe operation described in the present embodiment, as the operation whendequeuing a schedule from the server.

The management system 330 includes the batch server 331 according to thepresent embodiment. However, the management system 330 does notnecessarily need to include the batch server 331 and may cause anyserver such as the server 31 to perform the function of the batch server331.

Fifth Embodiment

First, the configuration of a system according to a fifth embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a system 410 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 25, the configuration of the system 410 is the same asthat of the system 10 according to the first embodiment (refer toFIG. 1) in which a management system 430 is provided in place of themanagement system 30 (refer to FIG. 1).

The configuration of the management system 430 is the same as theconfiguration in which each of the servers in the management system 30includes no queue, and the management system 30 includes a queue 431common to the servers.

Next, the operation of the system 410 will be described.

The operation of the system 410 is the same as the operation of thesystem 10, except for the points described below.

When the server in the management system 430 queues a schedule, theserver stores the schedule in the queue 431 common to all servers, notthe queue of the server's own.

Further, when the server in the management system 430 extracts aschedule from the queue 431, the server can extract an arbitraryschedule from the queue 431. For example, the servers 32, 33, and 34 canextract the schedule S1 that is not originally targeted from the queue431, and then execute the transmission process for the counterinformation of the image forming apparatus according to the schedule S1.

As described above, the queue 431 is shared by the plurality of servers.Therefore, even if a problem such as a server that has been scheduled inthe queue 431 goes down occurs, the management system 430 can dequeuethe schedule to be originally executed by the server in which theproblem has occurred, from the queue 431 by a server in which theproblem has not occurred, and then execute the schedule. Accordingly, ifa problem such as any server down occurs, the management system 430 canreduce the possibility that the schedule to be originally executed bythe server in which the problem has occurred is not executed.

The management system 430 is obtained by applying the queue 431 commonto the servers to the management system 30 according to the firstembodiment. The queue 431 common to the servers can be also applied tothe management system 130 according to the second embodiment, themanagement system 230 according to the third embodiment, and themanagement system 330 according to the fourth embodiment.

Although the electronic apparatus of the present disclosure is the imageforming apparatus in each of the embodiments described above, theelectronic apparatus of the present disclosure may be an electronicapparatus other than the image forming apparatus such as a personalcomputer (PC).

What is claimed is:
 1. A management system comprising: a serverconfigured to execute a schedule for transmitting information collectedfrom an electronic device, wherein the server subjects the schedule to aqueuing when an enqueue condition for subjecting the schedule to thequeuing is satisfied, and wherein the server subjects the schedule to adequeuing to execute the schedule when a dequeue condition forsubjecting the schedule to the dequeuing is satisfied.
 2. The managementsystem according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the enqueuecondition and the dequeue condition includes a condition based on anumber of the schedules being executed.
 3. The management systemaccording to claim 1, wherein at least one of the enqueue condition andthe dequeue condition includes a condition based on a past error intransmission of the information to a transmission destination of theinformation in the schedule.
 4. The management system according to claim1, wherein at least one of the enqueue condition and the dequeuecondition includes a condition based on a past response time intransmission of the information to a transmission destination of theinformation in the schedule.
 5. The management system according to claim1, wherein at least one of the enqueue condition and the dequeuecondition includes a condition based on aggregate data for each timeperiod of a past execution result in transmission of the information toa transmission destination of the information in the schedule.
 6. Themanagement system according to claim 1, wherein the management systemcomprises a plurality of the servers, wherein the queuing is shared bythe plurality of the servers.